Pea-sheller.



B. M. STEWART.

PEA SHELLER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 1914.

Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

' WITIIE88E8 ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOWLI'TNQ. WASHINGTON. D. C.

ERIN MAnpLINn s-TEWART, on BOSTON, GEORGIA.

rEA-SHELLER.

Specification of LettersPatent. I

Application filed January 13, 1914f seriai na isaa To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERIN M. STEWART, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Thomas and State of Georgia, have made an Improvement in Pea-Shellers, of which the following is a specification.

My pea-sheller is especially distinguished by an improvement in form, number, and coaction of pairs of rollers between which green pea-pods are passed for feeding them to a knife by which they are slit neatly and expeditiously.

The details of construction are as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the invention, a portion being broken away to show the construction and arrangement of parts; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view of the upper portion of the implement.

The frame of the implement comprises a standard 1, having its upper portionprovided with a longitudinal slot 2, and its lower end constructed as a screw-clamp adapted for attachment to a shelf, tableleaf, or other equivalent fixed support. I employ two pairs of convex rollers which are arranged and supported in the slot 2 of the standard, the respective pairs being mounted loosely on horizontal axles 3 and 4. That is to say, the upper rollers 5 are mounted on the upper axle 3, having its bearings in the sides of the standard, and the lower rollers 6 being similarly mounted on the lower axle 4, which has vertical play in the narrow slots 7 formed in the sides of the standard; see especially Fig.- 3. The lower axle and its rollers 6 are supported elastically, or yieldingly, from the upper axle 3, by means of spiral springs 8, the ends of the same being formed with loops which receive the projecting ends of the axles and the latter being provided with circumferential grooves to prevent accidental detachment of the springs. The springs further serve as means for preventing undue endwise movement, and possible accidental detachment of the axles. V

Itwill be seen that the inner convex sides of the rollers of each pair are contiguous and that the respective pairs run in peripheral contact. It is further apparent that the pea-pods, in passing between the pairs of convex portions of the rollers, which causes them to progress between the rollers and 1nto contact with a splitting knife orneedle 9. This arrangement of-the convex surfaces of the rollers has been found to be a distinct advantage in that the pea-pods are fed forward with a requisite force and rapidity, without danger of injury, as is so common in other machines of this type.

On the rear side of the rollers there is arranged a thin knife 9, whose upper end is clamped in the head of the standard by means of a screw 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the knife is set at an inclination to the vertical, and projects down far enough to traverse or cross the space formed between the adjacent peripheral portions of the two pairs of rollers, as shown in Fig. 1. The inclination of the knife aids its action on the pea-pods, that is. to say, enables it to slit them more easily than if it were arrangedvertically, and it also permits the pods to have a longer contact with the upper rollers 5 than would be otherwise practicable.

Pate t dov. 10, 1 914;

roller s," are in frictional contact, with the In using the implement, a pea-pod is in serted in the central space between the ad-. jacent peripheral portions of the two pairs of rollers, and is pushed and pulled through between the rollers, in which operation the knife easily slits the pods lengthwise, so that the peas proper' 'are exposed and drop out, or may be easily removed. It is further apparent that the springs 8 hold the pairs of rollers in easy or yielding contact so that pods of different sizes and form may be passed easily between the rollers and into contact with the knife, without injury to the peas contained in the pods.

The operatin parts which are independent of the stan ard, but supported in it, are all loosely connected with each other and may be easily and quickly removed for cleaning. The implement may be economically manufactured and is conveniently operated for quickly separating peas from the pods without danger of crushing the peas themselves.

What I claim is 1. In a pea-sheller of the type indicated, the combination with a slotted standard, of two parallel transverse independently and freely rotatable axles journaled in the frame, and two pairs of opposed rollers, one pair mounted on the upper axle and the if a slotted standard, parallel horizontal inde pendently and freely rotatable axles journaled therein, two pairs of convex rollers mounted on said axles and the members of each pair being opposite the members of the pair being convex, as" shown other pairs and their peripheries Working 10 in contact, and means for elastically connecting thejaggles of the respective pairs, as described.

ERIN MADELINE STEWART.

Witnesses:

V D. L. ROGERS,

J AS. A. MALLETTE.

tame: of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byv addressing the Commissioner 01' Patents,

8 Washington, D. C." 

